Apparatus for automatic microphotography

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for filming a plurality of index or library cards is disclosed which feeds, spaces and photographs the individual cards automatically. The apparatus is provided with a means for sensing the height of cards in a stack, adjusting the height of the stack so that a feeding mechanism may properly engage the cards for delivering them to a belt. The cards are photographed on the belt and are held stationary thereon by means of an electric charge on the individual cards so that they adhere to the surface of the belt. Subsequent to being photographed, the cards are restacked in the same order as they were stacked prior to being photographed.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 526,250, filed Nov. 22, 1974.

The present invention relates to a microfilm apparatus and moreparticularly to a microfilm apparatus which automatically feeds andphotographs a plurality of documents or cards, for example, librarycards, index cards or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Due to the proliferation of information that has become necessary forand available to business and government, it has become advantageous toreduce the physical volume that certain forms of information occupy. Forexample, it may be particularly advantageous to preserve the informationnormally contained on index cards, individual pages of books, librarycards or the like in a microfilm format. In this way, it is possible tostore the information in a manner which is reproducible for subsequentviewing and which enables subsequent reproduction for the information byduplicating the original cards from the microfilm negatives. The presentinvention provides an apparatus whereby a plurality of original indexcards or library cards or the like may be microphotographedautomatically. The particular advantages of such a system would ofcourse include the automatic rapid information retrieval of theinformation stored in the negatives as well as large savings in spacethat microphotograph negatives enjoy relative to the original cards.This of course minimizes the volume required to store the informationwhich was originally contained on those cards. This is especially truein this invention where several cards are photographed simultaneously sothat one frame of a microphotograph may contain the images of severalcards.

Since it is desirable to photograph several cards at one time and sinceheretofore cards and pages of books have generally been manuallyarranged in the format in which they are to be photographed, anautomatic means for arranging and spacing of the cards from each otherhas long been needed. Of course, where cards are automaticallyphotographed in a desired sequence, it is also important that thedesired sequence be preserved by an automatic filming machine bothbefore and after photographing the cards to maintain file integrity.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide anapparatus adapted to photograph a plurality of cards on a singlenegative.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whichautomatically arranges cards within a frame to be photographed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a means formaintaining file integrity of the card file which is automaticallyphotographed.

Yet another object is to provide means for determining the number ofcards to be photographed at one time.

An object of the present invention is to also provide a means forselecting the spacing between individual cards of the frame to bephotographed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means for holdingthe cards flat and immovable in the focusing plane of the camera whilebeing arranged and photographed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means of aligningcards in a stack to sense the height of the cards in the stack andadjust that height relative to a card feeder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above objects and others are accomplished in accordance with thisinvention, generally speaking by providing an automatic apparatusassociated with a camera having a means for transferring the top cardsfrom a stack thereof one after the other to an endless belt in responseto a command signal, means for charging the cards with staticelectricity so it will lie flat and move with the belt without slippage,means for delaying the feeding of a subsequent card to provide uniformadjustable spacing between cards, means for automatically photographinga predetermined number of the spaced cards on microfilm and means forremoving the cards from the belt and stacking them again in the sameorder as they were in when placed on the stack before they weremicrophotographed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, together with further advantages and objects thereof, maybe better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side elevational view of the automatic card photographingsystem;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the side opposite to thatshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view, showing the card feeding mechanism ofthe automatic card photographing system;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the card feeding mechanism;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the card feeding mechanism seenfrom the side opposite FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional side elevation of the card height sensingmechanism;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the feeding apparatus and a portion of thebelt on which the cards are photographed;

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate an electronic control system, and should bejoined along dot-dash line A-B to form a complete diagram;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 9--9 of FIG.3;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged side elevation of the card inverting mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Before describing the operation of the filming apparatus of theinvention, the various structural features thereof will first bedescribed.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the general overall configuration of theapparatus for automatic microphotography. In the representation of theapparatus in this specification, the numbers used indicate where variousparts may be found. That is, numbers between 200 and 300 indicate partsbelonging to a photographing section of the apparatus, parts between 100and 200 belong to a mechanism for feeding cards, parts between 400 and500 belong to a mechanism for receiving cards after they have beenphotographed and parts between 500 and 600 belong to a mechanism forsupplying and transmitting motive power to the moving parts of thevarious mechanisms. In the drawings a general photographing section 200is found in the upper center, with motive power section 500 disposeddirectly below the photography section 200. The photography sectionincludes a camera 201, a belt 202 whereon the cards are photographed andassociated mechanisms for advancing, arranging and photographing aplurality of cards. Feed mechanism 100 includes those parts utilized toremove individual cards from a stack of cards 102 and advance them to abelt 202. The feed mechanism 100 is found at the left of FIG. 1 and theright of FIG. 2. A card receiving mechanism 400 which is utilized toreceive cards after they have been photographed on the belt 202 andmaintain them in the order in which they were stacked in stack 102 isprovided to the right of FIG. 1 and to the left in FIG. 2. Anelectronics package 300 is found centrally disposed beneath the motivepower mechanism 500. The package 300 shown generally in FIG. 1 and FIG.2 contains an electronic control system shown in detail in FIGS. 8A and8B and which regulates the automatic operation of the overall apparatus.

The apparatus has an overall supporting frame 30 to which camera 201 aswell as various subframes are attached.

The frame 30 includes a base 31, upright struts 32a and 32b and camerasupport 33. Camera support 33, by means of a height adjustment mechanism34 retains the camera 201 in vertically adjustable relationship directlyover belt 202.

The photography section 200 includes belt 202 located in the focusingplane of camera 201, and section 200 is provided with a horizontalplanar subframe 210 disposed beneath belt 202 and operative to supportvarious components of section 200. Horizontal planar subframe 210 isdisposed below the camera and attached to frame 30 and bears supports240 and 250 near the opposite ends of belt 202 as well as plate 211. Thebelt 202 is looped about a pair of longitudinally spaced rollers 204 and205 supported by members 240 and 250 in bearings. Plate 211 supports theupper reach of the belt 202 and is used to keep the belt flat in thefocusing plane for the camera. Plate 211 is attached to subframe 210 bymeans of struts 211a and 211b. Belt 202 thus provides a flat plane tosupport individual cards 1 to be photographed. The cards 1 are held downon the belt 202 by electrostatic forces generated by a corotron 220secured to support 240. The belt preferably should have a surface whichenables charged cards to electrostatically adhere thereto. A teflon, orpolytetrafluoroethylene, surface is an example of such a surface.

Cards are fed to the belt by a feed apparatus generally indicated bynumber 100, as shown at the right of FIG. 2 and the left of FIG. 1. Thecards 1 are stored prior to being photographed in a stack 102 which issupported by a platform 103. Subframe 161, attached to subframe 210,supports threaded rods 104 rotatably secured at the bottom of the feedapparatus 100 by bearings in a support 161a and at the top by bearingsin a housing 120. The threaded rods 104 support platform 103 and providea means whereby the platform may be elevated. A motive power source 101,a clutch brake 101a and a belt 101c are provided to rotate the rods 104to elevate the platform 103 at appropriate times as determined by acontrol system generally shown as an electronics package 300 andillustrated in detail in FIGS. 8A and 8B.

The feeding mechanism also includes a suction cup pick up apparatus 132supported by housing 120 and movably mounted thereto by cantilevermembers 130. This mechanism removes cards 1 from the stack 102 totransfer them via a series of rollers (to be described in detail below)to the belt 202.

Cards are removed from the belt 202, after exposure, to another stack401 shown at the left of FIG. 2 and the right of FIG. 1. An apparatusgenerally shown at 400 collects the cards 1 after photographs thereofhave been made. A corotron 230 is provided to discharge the photographedcards 1 on the belt to enable them to be removed to the apparatus 400.

The apparatus 400 includes a subframe 410 attached to subframe 20 bystruts 410a, 410b and 410c and which supports a pair of rollers 402b and404c which rollers secure a belt 402. Belt 402 is maintained flat bymeans of a plate 411. An inverting means including a roller 404 and ablock 404a is attached to subframe 20 and receives cards 1 between theroller 404 and the block 404a and deposits the cards 1 upside down onthe belt 402.

The belt 402, which is caused to move at a slower rate than the belt 202receives the cards in an inverted and overlapping fashion due to theslower speed. A stop plate member 402a is provided at the end of belt402 and it is secured to frame 410. The cards are caused to butt againstthe stop 402a and the leading edge of the first card to contact plate402 is caused to slide the card upward along the plate 402a as shown inFIG. 1. Because they overlap, the cards will form a stack against theplate 402a.

Motive power to run the belt 202, to operate the card receivingapparatus 400 and the feed apparatus 100 is supplied by a motive powertransmission system generally indicated at 500 and disposed centrallywithin the overall apparatus below the belt 202. The system includes amotor 504 attached to subframe 210 which provides power for the feedingmechanism 100, for the belt 202, and for the card receiving apparatus400.

A sprocket chain 504a is provided to transmit power from motor 504. Thesprocket chain 504a is driven from motor 504 by motor output sprocketwheel 504b. An idler sprocket wheel 504c is also attached by strut 504dto subframe 210 and is provided for the chain 504a. Transmission 505 andclutch brake 508 are also attached to subframe 210 and are driven fromchain 504a via their respective input sprocket wheels 505a and 508a.

A clutch brake 510 is attached to subframe 160 and is driven viatransmission 505. A belt 514 connects the output of transmission 505 tothe input pulley 510a of clutch brake 510. An idler pulley 511 attachedto subframe 210 by strut 511a tensions belt 514. This is alsoillustrated in FIG. 2 which should also be referred to. Clutch brake510, by means of belt 152 looped about the output pulley 510b, isoperative to impart motion to the mechanical parts of feed mechanism 100to feed cards in a manner described below.

The output of clutch brake 508 is taken at a pulley 508b. For purposesof driving belt 402 a gear reduction apparatus 513 is provided. A belt506 is provided to transmit power to transmission 513 from clutch brake508. The belt 506 is trained between output pulley 508b of clutch brake508 and input pulley 513b of transmission 513. Idler pulley 507,attached to subframe 210 by means of strut 507a, tensions belt 506. Thebelt 513a is provided which transmits power from the output pulley 513cto roller 402b to drive belt 402.

A belt 512 is also provided to impart motion to belt 202. Belt 512 istrained between the output pulley 508b and roller 204. An idler pulley518 is attached to subframe 210 by means of strut 518a and tensions belt512.

It is to be understood that the various rollers, pulleys, and sprocketwheels described herein are to be retained in their respective struts orsupports by appropriate bearings or bearing surfaces.

The apparatus for feeding the individual cards has been generally shownat 100 having a stack of cards 102 held on a platform 103. This will nowbe described in more detail. The platform 103 is vertically movable bymeans of motor driven screw threaded rods 104 so as to bring the topcard 1 in proximity with a movable suction cup pick-up arm 133. Thisenables pick-up arm 133 to engage the upper most card 1 in the stack.When pick-up arm 133 removes a card 1 from the stack 102, it initiallyremoves it vertically and means are provided to later move theindividual card 1 horizontally. Nip rollers 110 and 110a are provided toremove the card 1 from the arm 133 when arm 133 brings the card into thenip formed between rollers 110 and 110a. A logic circuit is providedwhich generates a command signal to actuate the feeding mechanism andsimultaneously the nip rollers 110 and 110a to move the card 1 toanother set of rollers 203a and 203b. The set of rollers 203a, 203b arerotatably attached to support 240 as is roller 204; a companion roller204a is also attached to frame 24 to form a pair of rollers 204, 204a. Abelt 216 is trained between rollers 204 and 203a to impart motion toroller 203a. Roller pairs 204, 204a, and 203a, b run simultaneously withbelt 202 and advance a card fed by nip roller pair 110, 110a directly tothe belt 202.

The feed mechanism 100 is operated from clutch brake 510 independentlyof belt 202 and the rollers 203a, b and 204, 204a. The rollers 110, 110aand pick-up arm 133 are driven from clutch brake 510 only by means ofbelt 152. Clutch brake 510 thus controls the transmittal of power frommotor 504 to the feed apparatus 100. Clutch brake 510 receives thispower from motor 504 by means of belt 514 as has been described. In thisway the card fed to the nip rollers 110, 110a is not fed to roller pair203a, b until a subsequent feed signal from the control circuit causes asubsequent card to be removed from the stack 102 by energizing clutch510. The nip roller 110 is attached to a pulley 154 which is driven bybelt 152. Pulleys 153, 154 and 122 are all provided to be driven by belt152 and are rotatably secured in a housing 120.

FIGS. 3 - 7 show more clearly the arrangement utilized for picking upand feeding induvidual cards. The feeding mechanism has a housing 120having a wheel 122 rotatably mounted thereon and an eccentricallymounted push rod 124 is movably attached to wheel 122 and also to alever 126. The lever 126 is mounted to a shaft 128 rotatably fitted inthe frame 120. By means of cantilever member 130 a vacuum suction cupapparatus 132 comprising a plurality of suction cup arms 133, a manifold133a and a vacuum line 134 are attached to a shaft 128. Vacuum may beprovided from a suitable source and by means of line 134 to manifold133a and arms 133 which are all provided with communicating passages tocreate a suction at cups 133b. The manifold 133a from which the suctioncup arms 133 are suspended are pivotally mounted within the cantilevermembers 130. The suction cup arms 133 move individual cards from a stackof cards 102 which rests on pallet 103c on platform 103. The stack andplatform 103 are raised by the threaded rods 104 which engage thethreaded inner portions 103b of platform supports 103a. These threadedrods are turned by motor 101 in response to a signal from a sensor 138.This sensor includes a solenoid 139, a microswitch 140 and a T-shapedfeeler 142. The threaded rods 104 are secured and rotatably mounted tohousing 120 by bearings 136a at the top and by bearings 136b at thebottom thereof where the rods engage frame section 161a attached toframe 161.

The suction cup members 133b are provided with motive power to enablethem to pick up a card from the stack by motor 504 shown in FIGS. 1 and2. Clutch brake 510 allows the transferral of motive power uponreceiving energization signals from the control circuit of FIGS. 8A, 8B.Belt 152 is trained about pulleys 153, 154, and tensioning idler pulley155 to drive wheel 122 and roller 110. Rollers 110, 110a are providedand form a nip roller for engaging individual cards upon their removalfrom suction cup apparatus 133. Further a photoelectric cell 156 isprovided to sense the rotation of the wheel 122, a single rotation ofwhich corresponds to the feeding of a single card. By means of maskingout a portion of a reflective surface on the periphery of wheel 122, forexample by black tape 122a, photoelectric cell 156 may be de-energized.In this manner, a signal may be developed in the cell 156 indicative ofone rotation of wheel 122 corresponding to the feeding of a single card.This signal may be utilized to actuate a mechanism to straighten thestack of cards 102. Such a mechanism is provided by this invention andis further illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4 and will bedescribed below with additional reference to these latter figures. Thesignal provided by sensor 156 may be also utilized to energize the brakeof clutch brake 510 at an appropriate point during the feed cycle.

Also provided are rollers 203a and 203b rotatably mounted in support 240which advance a card from the nip roller 110 and 110a to the belt 202.By means of belt 216, as well as idler wheel 217, the motion of roller204 is both utilized to drive belt 202 as well as the rollers 203a and203b. Clutch brake 508, by means of belt 512 and idler 518 controls themotion of roller 204, and when energized causes the belt 202 to move.Belt 506 is driven through clutch brake 508, and has a tensioning idler207. Belt 506 drives the gear reduction unit 513 shown in FIG. 1 and 2.Hence, the operation of the brake portion of unit 508 stops both belt202 and belt 402 at the appropriate time as determined by the controlcircuit. Power input to clutch brake 508, though not shown in completedetail in FIG. 2, is obtained from motor 504 by means of sprocket chain504a which is shown in FIG. 1.

Upon energization of the clutch brake 510 by the control circuit ofFIGS. 8A and 8B, the clutch is actuated to impart rotational motion tothe wheel 122 by means of belt 152. This rotation displaces push rod 124and lever 126. By moving push rod 124 and lever 126 the suction arms 133suspended from cantilever 130 are initially moved vertically downwardsufficient to contact a single card as they pivot about shaft 128. Asthe wheel 122 turns further, suction cups 133b, which now have a cardattached thereto, are raised vertically. A cam roller 164 mounted on arm162 which is fixed to the suction cup manifold 133a, cam 160 mounted tothe frame 120 and cam surface 168 on cam 160 are provided. Cam roller164 contacts surface 168 so that cam 160 and roller 164 cause thesuction assembly 132 to move horizontally when a certain vertical heighthas been reached by the suction cup 133b. Thus, the card carried by thesuction cup engages the nip roller 110 and 110a (as best seen forexample in FIG. 6), for advancing the card to the belt 202. The niprollers 110 and 110a are also rotated by belt 152 in the same directionas the horizontal direction imparted by the cam to the suction assembly133.

The rollers 110 and 110a are rotated via belt 152. Roller 110 is rotatedby means of an associated pulley 154 about which belt 152 is looped andis attached to roller 110. Roller 110a rotates due to frictionalengagement with roller 110 or with a card 1 held in the nip betweenrollers 110, 110a. The size of the rollers may be selected so that therollers 110 and 110a rotate at the same relative speed as the horizontalmotion of the suction cups 133b and in the proper direction to removethe card therefrom.

The operation of the feeding apparatus is such that the speed of feedingthe card to the nip roller 110 and the velocity achieved by the cardthrough the nip roller 110 is substantially faster than the speed of acard moving along the belt 202. The feeding speed may be adjusted byselecting the diameter of an appropriate pulley such as wheel 122. Thisenables the cards fed to the nip rollers 110 and 110a to be stopped andthe feeding mechanism to come to a halt before the card is required tobe fed to the belt 202. This is important in the achievement of relativespacing between the cards and hence will be described in detail below.Card support bars 219a and 219b are attached to subframe 210 and theyspan the spaces between housing 120 and rollers 203a, b and betweenrollers 203a, 203 b and rollers 204a, 204b, and are used to support andalign the cards 1 to enable them to be properly fed from rollers 110,110a to rollers 203a, b, to rollers 204, 204a and to belt 202.

FIG. 3 also shows the provision of two limit switches 190 and 192 at theupper and lower ends of travel of platform 103. These switches engagethe platform 103 at two positions and correspond to the extreme boundsof travel for the platform 103. For example, when the platform engagesswitch 190 both the motive power to raise the platform as well as thepower to feed the cards is interrupted by the system since this positioncorresponds to the exhaustion of a supply of cards in the stacksupported by the platform. On the other hand, if the platform is causedto contact limit switch 192, both the clutch 101a and the motor 101itself are de-energized.

FIG. 4 shows the apparatus as described and shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 fromthe opposite side of FIG. 2 and in somewhat greater detail. FIG. 4 showsa stack of cards 102 the uppermost card of which is to be contacted bythe suction cups 133b. As in FIG. 2, suction cup apparatus 133 areshown, and as they are vertically displaced, and as has been described,the suction cups remove a card from the stack 102 and insert it in thenip rollers 110 and 110a. When another card is removed, the card in thenip rollers is advanced to the next pair of rollers 203 and 203a.Photoelectric cells 174 and 175 are provided between roller pairs 110,110a and 203a, 203b and between roller pairs 203a, 203b and 204, 204arespectively, and sense the presence or absence of the cards atappropriate positions. Cell 174 senses a card fed to the nip rollers 110and 110a and 175 registers a card to be passed to the belt 202.Photoelectric cell 175 is also useful for applying a signal to anelectric counter circuit included in the control circuit described belowfor counting the number of cards fed to the belt 202 so that after apredetermined number of cards are fed a photograph may be made. Both thephotoelectric cells 174 and 175 sense the position of the cards 1. Cell175 forms a means for locating the position of cards 1 relative to eachother so that a constant space is maintained between them. Cell 174sense whether a card was missed by the feeding mechanism and isoperative to stop the feeding of subsequent cards. Each card 1 will thushave a definite location on the belt 202 and hence in the photograph.The operation of photocell pick ups 174 and 175, can best be describedin conjunction with the overall control circuit for the apparatus shownin FIGS. 8A and 8B and thus will be described in conjunction therewith.Thus, depending on the position of the card as sensed by cell 175, thefeeding of a card may be delayed an appropriate amount for the properspacing between the predetermined number of cards to be photographed onthe belt 202.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 in a top view, also clearly show the position ofsensors 174 and 175 which enable control of the spacing between cards 1on the belt 202.

FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7 also show the position of corotrons 220 and 230above belt 202. Corotron 220 is used to electrostatically charge eachcard as it emerges from roller pair 204 and 204a and is positioned closethereto so that each card is fully charged and thus adheres to the belt202 when it is released by rollers 204 and 204a. Corotron 230 near theroller 205 is utilized to discharge the cards to enable them to beremoved from the belt 202 by the card inverting apparatus 404.

FIGS. 3 and 4 also show apparatus for straightening the cards in thestack 102 disposed directly below rollers 110, 110a and adjacent thestack 102. The apparatus includes a solenoid 180, a lever arm 181 and aspring member 182 attached to the above arm 181. The arm is attachedpivotally to housing 120 by pivot block 181a and is biased by spring 183away from the stack. A back stop plate 184 is disposed next to a side ofthe stack 102 opposite to the arm 181. Plate 184 is attached to housing120 by struts 184a. Piston 180a attached to the solenoid 180 is utilizedto bring spring 182 into contact with the stack for straightening thecards and to push them against the back stop plate 184. A nozzle 186having an aperture 186a to blow air into the stack so that the uppermostcards in the stack are easily removed. The nozzle 186 is attached toplate 184. The uppermost cards in the stack are separated in thismanner. Nozzle 187 and aperture 187a perform in the same manner and areattached to housing 120 opposite to the nozzle 186. Solenoid 180 isenergized during every feed cycle as has been described above, that is,it is actuated by the photocell unit 156 as shown in FIG. 2 inconjunction with a blacked-out portion on wheel 122. At such time thatsuction cup 133 has reached its maximum downward stroke to engage thecard and a photocell of unit 156 encounters a blacked-out portion ofwheel 122, solenoid 180 is actuated to move arm 181 and spring 182 tostraighten the stack of cards between plate 184 and the spring 182. Thisalso gives each card edge a reference point, that is, plate 184 formwhere it is fed to enable the proper registration and spacing of thecards.

FIG. 5 also shows the card height sensing means, which is also shown ingreater detail in FIG. 6. As has been described above, the heightsensing means is disposed directly below roller 110a in FIGS. 5 and 6and includes a solenoid 139, a plunger 190, a mircoswitch 140, a T-barfor sensing card height and which slides within a frame 142a. A cam 142bdisplaces the bar 142 horizontally about the pivot point 142d. Springs142e and 142f serve to displace the bar 142 so that flange 142c is injuxtaposition with the uppermost card in the stack 101 as illustrated inbroken lines in FIG. 5. In response to a command signal from the logiccircuit (having counted the predetermined number of cards to bephotographed) the solenoid 139 is energized, causing a plunger 190 to bedisplaced in a downward direction. By means of spring 142f the T-bar 142is displaced in a downward direction and tab 142h contacts cam 142b sothat the T-bar 142 is displaced in a horizontal direction to move it toengagement with the uppermost card in the stack 102. Of course, theT-bar 142 is also displaced vertically so that point 142c engages theuppermost card. If the stack is too low, the lower surface 142g of bar142 will contact the arm 140a of microswitch 140 so as to actuate theswitch. In response to switch 140 being actuated, clutch 101a is toenable motor 101 to turn rods 104 to vertically displace the stack inthe manner above. The stack is vertically displaced until the tension inspring 142f is overcome to a sufficient extent that T-bar 142 isdisplaced vertically sufficient to disengage microswitch 140. At thistime the brake 101 is engaged and no more motive power is supplied tothe thread rods and the stack is held in position. In this manner thestack is always raised to a height sufficient to enable the T-bar 142 todisengage and deactuate the microswitch 140. The position of theseelements may be selected so that the proper height of the cardsdisengages the switch at the appropriate time. Spring 142e causes theT-bar to be pivoted horizontally to disengage it from the stack uponde-energization of the solenoid 139 for subsequent feeding of cardsafter exposure as controlled by the control circuit shown in FIG. 7.

The card receiver 400 now will be explained in greater detail withreference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 10. In the receiving apparatus, belt 402 istrained around roller 402c at its far end and around roller 402b nearbelt 202. The gear reducer 513 is provided so that belt 402 advances ata rate much slower than the velocity of belt 202. This is so that as thecards are individually removed from the belt 202 and upon beingdeposited on belt 402, they are caused to overlap so that when theyengage with stop 402a towards the end of belt 402 they are caused to bestacked in the order that they were removed from the stack 102. Aninverting roller 404 is provided adjacent the end of belt 202 so thatcards may be caused to attach to the roller 404 and by means of acomplimentary surface formed on block 404a the cards are inverted andfall upside down onto the belt 402. This mechanism will be seen moreclearly in FIG. 10. The inverting apparatus as shown in FIG. 10 includesthe aforementioned block 404a having a surface 404b complimentary to theroller 404. The surface 404b should extend about enough of thecircumference of roller 404 to insure that the card fed between theroller 404 and surface 404b falls upside down on belt 402 when it isreleased from between the roller 404 and the surface 404b. The roller404 may have a raised pattern 404c thereon which forms a card-grippingsurface to ensure that the card is advanced between the roller 404 andthe surface 404b. The roller 404 is driven by a belt 205a from roller205. In this manner cards are caused to be stacked in the relationshipand in the sequence in which they were originally found in stack 102from which they were fed as they are caused to slide against plate 402a.

The overall operation of the microfilming apparatus of the invention maybe best described and understood by reference to the operation of thecontrol system as illustrated in the logic circuit of FIG. 7. Thecontrol system may be assembled from commonly available logic devices.

The nomenclature for the individual circuit devices of FIGS. 8A, 8B hasbeen developed to indicate which individual devices may correspond tocommercially available sub-circuits from which the individual elementsmay be obtained. For example, in the upper left hand corner of FIG. 8B,in latch circuit L6 and gate circuit G6, the numeral 6 indicates thatboth of these circuits may be found in a single integrated circuitmodule. The L prefixing the numeral 6 in the latch circuit indicatesthat according to the interconnection of pins on module 6 a latchcircuit may be obtained. Similarly for gate circuit G6 theinterconnection of the pins on module 6 as shown obtains a gate cirucit.Similarly inverter circuits I 11C and I 11D are shown. This nomenclatureused indicates that an integrated circuit module 11 contains severalinverter circuits if one connects the pins as shown. The prefix Iindicates that the element shown is an inverter and the suffices C and Dindicate that these are respectively of the third and fourth invertersfound on module 11. The inverters as have been described change a highvoltage signal to a low voltage signal. The operation of such invertersare well known but for clarity the opreation of a gate such as G6, and asignal appearing at pin 9G6 will be transmitted to pin 13G6 only on thecondition that no signal is present on pin 12G6. The term "pin"corresponds to an appropriate input or output terminal of the device.

The latch circuit such as L6 operates in a different fashion however andhas an interconnection of terminals 5L6 and 2L6 as shown. If a signal isabsent from pin 7L6, when a signal is placed at pin 4L6, the latchcircuit will produce a constant high voltage output. This is the"latched up" mode of latch operation; when the high voltage signal isremoved form the output of a latch, this will be referred to as"unlatching" the latch. This high voltage is maintained until a highsignal is placed on pin 7L6 at which time the voltage on the output or2L6 is brought back to zero or be "unlatched".

The various circuit components may be obtained commercially; for examplethe inverters can be found on a UL900 integrated circuit and theamplifiers on a UL914 integrated circuit as supplied by FairchildSemiconductors. The logic gates G and latches L may be obtained on aSignetics integrated circuit SN380A. Monsanto diodes MCT-6 can beutilized for the diodes D. All the logic devices can be obtained byconnecting the pins of the integrated circuits according to thefollowing description. The numeral following the letter suffix as 8 inG8 indicates that gate G8 may be constructed from the same integratedcircuit module 8 as can inverter I8 by the connections as indicated. Forexample see G5 and L5. In this example if one connects the terminal 9,14, 11, 13, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of the same SN380A IC, one can obtain thosecircuits having the indicated terminals 9G5, 14G5, 11G5, and 13G5 forgate G5 and 4L5, 2L5, 3L5, 5L5, 6L5 and 7L5 for latch L5. The terminaldesignations such as 4L5 and 13G5 indicate by the numeral 5 succeedingthe letter designation (L or G) that terminals 4 and 13 of the samesolid state device 5 are being used to create different circuits, alatch or a gate (L or G).

The control system of FIGS. 8A, 8B is operative to control the card feedby means of energizing the clutch-brake 510 during the card feedingapparatus 100 as has been described. This is accomplished by energizingtransistor T1 with a pulse so as to excite light emitting diode LED1which turns on a phototransistor PT1 by the transmission of lightbetween these two elements. When phototransistor PT1 is actuated, theclutch of clutch-brake 510 is engaged and power is transmitted frommotor 504 to the feed mechanism and as has been described a card is fedto the nip rollers 110 and 110a. Control of the feed is essentaillyaccomplished by two control devices, gate G10 and circuit NG9. Gatecircuit G10 will transmit a signal to transistor T1 only under theconditions that no signal is present on pin 12G10. Input pulses areapplied to the gate G10 at pin 10 from essentially three sources.

The first source and most important in the normal operation of thecircuit are output signals from pin 13NG9 of gate NG9; diode D10 steersthese signals to the input 9G10 of gate G10. The gate circuit NG9 is soconstituted that an output is present at 13NG9 only on the conditionthat input is present on pins 4NG9 and 5NG9 and no input is present onpins 6NG9 and 7NG9. Therefore, any signal present at 6NG9 and 7NG9 willinterrrupt the feeding of the cards. For example, a signal present onpin 7 indicates that a counter circuit C1 has counted five cards or thatan inhibit signal has been presented to gate G6 in such a manner as topresent a signal at pin 7NG9. A signal at pin 6NG9 indicates that carddetector 174 has failed to detect a card fed into the nip rollers 110and 110a. This prevents a feed signal from being presented to the clutchbrake 510 by means of the circuit NG9. Every time a card is sensed by acard edge sensor 175, there will be an input present at pin 5 of thegate circuit NG9.

Feed signals are applied to terminal 9G10 from two other sources. Amanual feed signal is derived by the depression of toggle switch TS4,which by means of amplifiers A19 and a inverting amplifier A20, andsteering diode D1 applies a signal to 9G10 to manually initiate feedingin the card. Similarly the connection of run switch TS5 applies acontinuous run signal to gate 9G10 to cards continously by means ofamplifier A22 and inverting amplifier A23 and steering diode D2.

When a new stack of cards is placed on a platform 103 and the card stackheight is elevated properly, by means of manual energization of theclutch-brake 101a to raise the stack of cards to the correct height. Themanual feed switch TS4 is closed and a single card is fed to the niprollers 110 and 110a. At this point the detector 174 should detect acard present in the nip rollers. If this is so, by means of inverterI4D, a low voltage pulse will be placed at pin 12 of gate G3 and bymeans of diode D7 a low voltage pulse will be placed at pin 12 of gateG7A. This means that whenever a card is present at detector 174 thesegates are conductive.

When the manual feed switch TS4 is closed, a signal is placed atterminal 9 of gate G7A through diode D1; which presents a positive pulsethrough diode D8 to terminal 4 of latch L8. This means the output of thelatch at terminal 2L8 is high, inverter I11D inverts this high signal toa low signal and by means of transistor T5 actuates photo diode LED.Phototransistor PT5 operates in conjuction with LED5 (in a mannersimilarly to phototransistor PT1, diode LED1, and transistor T1 as hasbeen described for the card feed) to actuate the clutch of clutch-brake508 to drive the belt 202.

Depression of the manual feed button TS4 a second time feeds a secondcard and the first card fed to the nip rollers is passed through torollers 203 and 204 whereat their leading edge is sensed by the leadingedge detector 175 which by means of light emitting diode LED2 andphototransistor PT2 presents a signal to gate G5 at terminal 9G5. Theoutput of G5 is high when a card is sensed and this signal is presentedto gate G8 at terminal 9G8 and to terminal 4G7B of Gate G7B. Since therun switch TS5 has been closed, the output of amplifier IA23 causes thelatch L5 to be maintained in the zero position and the output of latchL5 is passed to terminal 12 of gate G8 so that G8 passes any signalappearing at terminal 9G8 thereof through amplifier A24 into a countercircuit C1. The output of gate G8 is also fed to terminal 5NG9 of negateNG9 which instructs the card feeder to feed another card in the mannerdescribed. Therefore, upon the proper registry of a card with edgesensor 175 an instruction is automatically given to feed another cardsince gate G8 is actuated by the sensor 175. This is true under allconditions unless a card is missed by detector 174 in which case asignal appears at terminal 7 of NG9 or the counter has reached themaximum count of cards and the feed has stopped momentarily so that aphotograph may be made of the number of cards that have been counted andare present on the belt 202.

As soon as a card is detected by edge sensor 175, as has been described,a signal is transmitted through gate G8 to terminal 13G8 and by means ofamplifier A24 the counter C1 begins a count. This counter counts thenumber of cards fed. After each registration signal from sensor 175appears at G8, immediately a signal from terminal 13G8 is presented toinput terminal 5NG9 to feed another card. When another card is fed, thesensor 175 senses the card immediately preceeding the card being fed.The sensor signal is applied by means of gate G5 again to gate G8 whichin turn presents another feed signal to NG9 at terminal 5NG9. The outputof G8 is of course, as has been described, also fed to the counter C1;so that for every feed signal the count increases.

When the count reaches a predetermined maximum number for example as isshown in the diagram of FIGS. 8A, 8B, five cards have been counted, thefeeding is stopped in the following manner. At the count of five, anoutput is obtained at both terminal 20 of the counter C1. This output isapplied to inverter I4C which, by means of steering diode D11, turns offthe latch L8 which had been initially turned on by the closing of themanual feed switch TS4. This operates to turn on the brake ofclutch-brake 508 and stop the belt 202. Also be means of inverter I4B,the latch L2 is turned on. This applies a signal to inverter I11B whichby means of transistor T3 light emitting diode LED3 and phototransistorPT3 turns on the card height sensor, which has been described above, forsensing the height of cards in the stack and raising and lowering thestack in response thereto. Further, latch L6 is energized so that thislatch places a positive pulse at terminal 7NG9 of gate circuit NG9 whichinterrupts the feeding of the subsequent cards. Further, the output ofterminal 20 counter C1 is also fed by means of I4C to inverter I11Cwhich by means of transistor T4 light emitting diode LED4 andphototransistor PT4 energizes the trigger of the camera for exposing thefilm. When the camera shutter closes, switch TS1 is closed. Thispresents a pulse through amplifiers A16, A17 and inverting amplifierIA18 to the input 4L10 of latch L10 which is turned on the latch latchesup to present a positive signal at terminal 9G6 of gate G6. Unless thereis a signal from the feed inhibit terminal 12G6, gate G6 passes signalsto terminal 7L6 of latch L6 which unlatches the latch to remove the highsignal from terminal 7NG9 of NG9. This permits a further instruction tofeed another card for another series of five cards. Simultaneously whenthe latch L10 latches up in response to the shutter closing the reset ofcounter C1 is set by means of inverter 14A which is attached to terminal18C1 of the counter for the resetting thereof. The counter now returnsto zero and when an input is obtained through gate G8 from card sensor175 subsequent cards are sensed thereby and counted as above.

In the normal situation the card edge sensor 175 and the missed carddetector 174 will detect cards corresponding thereto. A feed signal willbe applied to gate G10 in the manner described and subsequent cards willcontinue to be fed. When a signal appears at the output 13NG9 throughdiode D10 it is also fed to terminal 9G7A of gate G7A. If the card edgesensor 175 detects a card, terminal 12G7A will be high and no input willactuate latch 18 to stop belt 202 via brake 508. If of course the misseddetector 174 does not detect a missed card so as to shut off G7A, thelatch L8 will be latched up, and a positive signal will be presented tothe inverter I11D and the clutch of clutch-brake 508 will be actuated inthe manner as has been described and rotation of the belt 202 will bereinitiated. The output from gate NG9 also unlatches latch L10 which waslatched by the signal corresponding to the closure of the shutter. Thisis accomplished by means of amplifier A21 and delay circuit RC1. Thisunlatching removes the signal from the base of latch L6 and latch L2 byremoving the input from gate G6 upon the command signal for a card to befed subsequent to the closure of the shutter.

A feed inhibit cirucit consisting of photodiode LED 6 andphototransistor PT6 is provided to shut off the gate G6 to prevent theunlatching of latches L6 and L2. This means that the output of G6 isalways constrained to be zero as long as the feed inhibit signal issupplied feed will thus be inhibited as long as L6 is maintained in thelatching state, since a signal will always be supplied at terminal 7 ofgate NG9 so as to prevent the transmittal of a feed signal to G10through gate NG9. The feed inhibit is useful for stopping the feed whenthe leading and trailing edge of film in the camera is sensed so that nocards are lost due to an attempt to photograph cards on the leading ortrailing edge where no photographs are to be made.

The control system also works in the following manner to control cardfeeding if the missed card detector 174 does not register a card in thenip rollers. This corresponds to the failure of the suction cups to feeda card from the stack. In this instance, a signal will be supplied fromsensor 174 to light emitting diode LED7 which in combination withphototransistor PT7 supplies a signal through inverter I4B to terminal12 of gate G3. Since in response to the run signal latch L3 is latchedup there will be always an input at terminal 9G3 of gate G3 so as tocause gate G7 to be turned off to prevent the unlatching of latch L8.Latch L8 must be maintained in the latch state to enable clutch-brake508 to be activated and to continuously drive belt 202. However, when nocard is detected, gate G3 is turned off by means of a supply frominverter 14D to terminal 12G3. When this gate is turned off gate G7 isturned on, supplying a pulse through diode D9 to terminal 7L8 of latchL8. This unlatches the latch L8 causing the brake of clutch-brake 508 tobe applied to stop the turning of the belt 202. Also, when a card ismissed a signal is supplied by means of diode D7 to terminal 6 of gateNG9 to prevent the feeding of a subsequent card. Hence in this instancewhen a card is missed both the belt is stopped and the gate NG9 preventsthe transmission of a feed signal from gate G8 to the card feed clutch510. This signal may be overridden by pressing the manual feed buttonTS4, which bypasses the gate NG9 to order the feed mechanism to attemptto feed another card. If this feed is successful, the missed carddetector 174 will detect the feeding of another card, the gate G3 willbe turned on, the latch signal will be removed from latch L8 and aninput will be made by means of diode D1 to terminal 9 of gate G7 so asto pass the signal to terminal 4 of latch L8 to latch this circuit up.This re-energizes the clutch 508 and the belt 202 will rotate. Thecontrol system always signals gate G10 to feed a card except when themaximum number of cards have been counted by counter C1 or a card failsto register at either sensor 174 or 175. In these latter cases the feedmechanism as well as the belt 202 are interrupted.

A further control, the "stop at five" , TS2 is also provided. If thisswitch is activated a gate G1 will be closed. If switch TS2 is opened,the stop at five circuit will be operative. Hence a signal coming out ofterminal 20C1 of the counter C1 is applied by inverter I4C to theterminal 9G1 of gate G1. If the "stop at five" switch is opened, therewill be no gate signal at terminal 12 G1 of gate G1 and the pulsesupplied from terminal 20 of the counter will be applied to latch uplatch L1. If L1 is latched up in this instance, a signal will besupplied from the latch to terminal 12 of gate G10. This prevents anysignal after the five cards have been counted from actuating subsequentfeeding. This means that the "stop at five switch" TS2 must be openedagain in order to enable the subsequent manual feeding of any subsequentcards after five cards have been counted.

Of course, the counter need not be set at five cards, any number may becounted before the photograph is made. The counter may be set forexample to stop at 4, 3, 2 or 1 corresponding to the placement of theoutput signal. For example, rather than taking the output for control ofthe camera trigger and the clutch-brake and so forth from pin 20C1,another terminal which corresponds to a four-card count may be used. Acounter having a count higher than five may be used, e.g. three cardsmay be utilized to actuate the automatic photographing of cards.

From the above discussion of the operation of the control circuit itwill be apparent that since the subsequent feeding of a second card iscontrolled by the card edge sensor 175, no subsequent card is fed untilthe card edge sensor 175 encounters a card. It is apparent in referringto FIG. 4 in conjunction with the control circuit of FIGS. 8A, 8B thatif the sensor 175 is, for example, positioned closer to backstop 184 acard will be encountered earlier by the sensor 175 and hence a feedsignal will be supplied sooner to feed the second card. Since this istrue and since the feed mechanism 100 moves more rapidly than the belt202, the second card which is fed to the nip roller will of course bephysically closer to the trailing edge of the card encountered by cell175. If sensor 175 is moved farther away from backstop 184, the feedingof a second card will be later and there will be a greater space betweencards on the belt 202. In this manner the spacing between the cards maybe controlled by positioning the cell 175. FIG. 6 which is a top planview of FIG. 4 shows an arm 175c upon which the sensor 175 is attached.This arm may be pivoted about pivot 175d which attaches the arm to theframe 120. This enables the positioning of the sensor 175 closer to thestack of cards and the back stop 184 so that the second card may besensed closer or farther away from the stop by the sensor 175 to controlthe spacing as described.

In operation, initially an operator depresses the manual feed buttonTS-4, and the cards 1 are picked up one at a time from stack 102 bymeans of the suction cup apparatus 133 and are fed to the nip rollers110 and 110a which remove the cards therefrom. Because the feedingprocess is faster than the cards move in the roller pairs 203a, b or204, 204a, the card 1 held in the nip rollers 110, 110a remainsstationary until another is fed due to the actuation of sensor 156 bywheel 122 which turns on brake 510 to stop feeding.

Once in the nip roller 110, 110a, leading edge sensor 174 senses thecard and when the button TS-4 is again pressed another feed commandsignal is generated to actuate the clutch of clutch-brake 510. Thesensor 156 also actuates the card straightener solenoid 180 upon theoccurrence of each rotation of wheel 122. Another card is now picked upas the first card is advanced from nip rollers 110, 110a to rollers203a, b and 204, 204a and fed directly to belt 202. Sensor 175 isinterposed between rollers 203a, b and 204, 204a and generates a feedsignal upon the sensing of the leading edge of the first card. Thisinitiates the automatic operation of the machine because the output ofsensor 175 automatically re-energizes clutch 510 to feed another cardand starts the counter C1. The counter will count the required number ofcards encountered by cell 175. Upon the maximum count being achieved,the logic circuit actuates the card height sensor solenoid 139 to adjustthe height of stack 102 and actuates brake 510 and brake 508 to stopfeeder 100 and belt 202 and trips the camera shutter so that aphotograph of the cards on belt 202 may be made. After exposure, thecounter returns to zero, the clutch 508 and 510 are reactuated and morecards are fed, counted, and photographed. As has been described,however, this process is automatically terminated if sensor 174 or 175fail to detect a card, or if the "feed inhibit" or "stop at five"circuits in the control logic circuit are actuated. Normally, however,cards 1 will be delivered to the belt 202 by the feed mechanism 100,photographed and passed to the card receiving mechanism 400automatically.

At the receiving mechanism 400, the cards are removed from belt 202 byinverting roller and block 404 and 404a and are placed in an invertedoverlapping fashion on belt 402. Belt 402 then stacks the cards 1against stop 402a in the same orientation and sequence as they werestacked in stack 102.

While an embodiment of the invention has been shown and described indetail, it will be understood that various changes and modifications mayoccur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for photographing cards having ameans for feeding cards successively from a stack of cards, saidapparatus including:a. means operative to feed individual cards from astack of cards to a belt one at a time in response to a command signal,said means including;means for picking up said cards; linkage means forbringing said means for picking up cards adjacent the stack of cards topick up a single card from the stack; means for removing said card fromsaid means for picking up cards; belt means for accepting said cardsfrom said removal means to hold and advance a predetermined number ofcards for making photomicrographs of the cards held thereon; delay meansfor adjustable delay of feeding of a subsequent card from said stack inorder to form a space between successive cards on said belt; stackelevation means for elevating said stack upon dimunition of the supplyof cards in said stack below a predetermined level; b. counting meansfor counting the number of cards fed to said belt; c. means responsiveto said counting means to stop the feeding means after a predeterminednumber of cards have been fed to said belt; and d. means operative toadvance said belt and reactivate said pick up means after apredetermined time interval.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidmeans operative to feed cards includes:a frame; a shaft rotatablymounted to said frame and having cantilever members mounted thereon; asuction cup assembly pivotally suspended from said cantilever members; awheel rotatably mounted to said frame; a source of motive power forsupplying rotational motion to said wheel in response to a commandsignal; a push rod attached to said wheel and mounted eccentricallythereon; a lever arm attached to said shaft for displacement thereof,said push rod attached to said lever arm to impart a substantiallylinear motion to said lever arm to vertically displace said suction cupsinto proximity with said stack; and means operative to displace saidsuction cup assembly in a horizontal direction subsequent to verticallinear displacement so as to horizontally displace said card to engagesaid cards with said means to remove said card.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 2 wherein said means operative to displace thesuction cup assembly includes a cam attached to said frame for mountingsaid shaft and roller means attached to the suction cup assembly so asto impart substantially a horizontal movement to said assembly.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said sensor includes:a bar having aprojecting portion thereon adapted to engage the upper surface of theuppermost card in said stack; a spring biasing said bar in a position sothat it does not engage said stack; a solenoid to displace the bardownward in response to an actuating signal; means for urging saidprojecting portion of said bar into contact with the upper surface ofthe uppermost card in said stack as said bar is urged downward by saidsolenoid; and means responsive to the position of said bar to provide asignal indicative of the height of the stack.
 5. The apparatus accordingto claim 1 wherein said delay means includes a card position sensor fordetermining the position of the leading edge of said card in order todelay the advancement of the second card relative to the first so that aspace is provided between said first and second cards on said belt. 6.The apparatus of claim 1 further including means for collecing after thephotographing thereof the cards in the same order as they were stackedbefore the photographing thereof.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 whereinsaid means for collecting the cards after exposure includes a secondbelt, a card inverter for placing the cards removed from said first beltface down on said second belt, means for running said second belt at aspeed slower than said first belt so that said cards overlap each otherwhen placed on said second belt and a backstop at one end of said secondbelt against which the cards may abut and form a stack.
 8. The apparatusof claim 2 wherein the means for removing cards from said means forpicking up cards is a pair of nip rollers whose surfaces move at thesame speed as the speed of horizontal displacement of said card.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said belt has a teflon coating to enablethe cards to electrostatically adhere thereto and wherein said apparatusalso includes means for electrostatically charging and discharging thecards.
 10. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein delay meansincludes a sensor whose position is adjustable and a logic circuitwhich, in response to receiving a signal from the sensor causes saidfeeding apparatus to feed another card.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1wherein stack elevation means includes:a frame for supporting thefeeding apparatus and elevation means; a pair of threaded rods rotatablyattached to the frame; a belt for rotating said rods to elevate saidplatform; a platform for supporting a stack of cards and adapted to beelevated by said rods; a clutch brake for coupling motive power to saidrods via said belt; a sensor for sensing the height of said cards foractuating said clutch brake upon the height of said cards being below apredetermined minimum; and a logic current for actuating said sensor.12. An apparatus according to claim 1 further including a logic circuitwhich comprises:means for interrupting the feeding of a card from thestack of cards if the feed apparatus fails to feed a card; means forinterrupting the feeding of a card from the stack of cards if apredetermined number of cards have been fed to the belt; means foractuating a camera to photograph cards on said belt after apredetermined number thereof have been fed to the belt; means forreinitiating feeding of a predetermined number of subsequent cards fromthe stack after the preceeding predetermined number of cards have beenphotographed; and means to actuate a sensor to determine the height ofcards in the stack of cards to be fed in response to a predeterminednumber of cards having been fed to said belt.
 13. An apparatus accordingto claim 7 wherein said card inverter includes:a roller having aperipheral outer surface; gripping means covering said surface of saidroller to frictionally engage a card; and means providing a secondsurface which is complimentary to a portion of the outer peripheralsurface of said roller and which extends over a sufficient portion ofthe peripheral outer surface of said roller to invert a card fed betweensaid second surface and said roller surface upon release of the card.14. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said bar has a lower surface,saidmeans responsive to the position of said bar includes a microswitchactuated by the lower surface of said bar, a spring which biases the barupon energization of the solenoid so that the microswitch is actuated,and a motive source operative upon the energization of said microswitchupon the energization of said solenoid to raise the stack of cards to aposition to displace the bar in an upward direction sufficient toovercome the bias of the spring to deactuate the microswitch.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 1 further including means for straightening the cardsin the stack of cards to be fed, and means for actuating saidstraightening means after each card is fed.
 16. The apparatus of claim 3further including means for straightening the cards in the stack ofcards to be fed, and means for actuating said straightening means aftereach card is fed.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said means forstraightening said stack includes:an arm pivotally secured to said frameat one end thereof; a spring biasing said arm away from said stack; aleaf spring secured at one end thereof to said arm near said pivoted endand resiliently biased toward said stack; a backstop secured to saidframe; a solenoid actuatable to pivot said arm toward said stack so thatsaid leaf spring presses against said stack and to urge the uppermostcards in the stack against the backstop; and said means for actuatingsaid straightening means includes a sensor adapted to sense the rotationof said wheel, one complete rotation of which corresponds to the feedingof one card from the stack.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein saidsensor for sensing the rotation of said wheel is a photocell and saidwheel has a portion of the surface thereof provided with a means foractuating said photocell once during each rotation of said wheel. 19.The apparatus of claim 1 further including means for separating theuppermost card in the stack from the stack prior to being removedtherefrom.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said means forseparating the uppermost cards comprises first and second nozzlesdisposed to direct opposing streams of air against opposite sides ofsaid stack.
 21. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said sensor includes:abar having a projecting portion thereof adapted to engage the uppersurface of the uppermost card in said stack; spring biasing said bar ina position so that it does not engage said stack; a solenoid to displacethe bar downward in response to an actuating signal; means for urgingsaid projecting portion of said bar into contact with the upper surfaceof the uppermost card in said stack as said bar is urged downward bysaid solenoid; and means responsive to the position of said bar toprovide a signal indicative of the height of the stack.
 22. Theapparatus according to claim 21 wherein said delay means includes a cardposition sensor for determining the position of the leading edge of saidcard in order to delay the advancement of the second card relative tothe first so that a space is provided between said first and secondcards on said belt.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22 further includingmeans for collecting the cards in the same order as they were stackedafter the exposure thereof.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein saidmeans for collecting the cards after exposure includes a second belt, acard inverter for placing the cards removed from said first belt facedown on said second belt, said second belt being run at a speed slowerthan said first belt so that said cards overlap each other when placedon said second belt and a backstop at one end of said second beltagainst which the cards may abut and form a stack.
 25. The apparatus ofclaim 24 wherein means for removing cards from said means for picking upcards is a pair of nip rollers whose surface moves at the same speed asthe horizontal displacement of said card.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25wherein said belt has a teflon coating to enable the cards toelectrostatically adhere thereto and means for electrostaticallycharging and discharging the cards.
 27. An apparatus according to claim26 wherein said delay means includes a sensor whose position isadjustable, and a logic circuit which, in response to receiving a signalfrom the sensor causes said feeding apparatus to feed another card. 28.The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said stack elevation means includes:aframe for supporting both the feeding apparatus and elevation means; apair of threaded rods rotatably attached to the frame; a belt forrotating said rods to elevate said platform; a platform for supporting astack of cards and adapted to be elevated by said rods; a clutch brakefor coupling motive power to said rods via said belt; means for sensingthe height of said cards in said stack for actuating said clutch brakeupon the height of said cards being below a predetermined minimum; and alogic circuit for actuating said sensor.
 29. An apparatus according toclaim 28 further including a logic circuit which comprises:means forinterrupting the feeding of a card from the stack of cards if the feedapparatus fails to feed a card; means for interrupting the feeding of acard from the stack of cards if a predetermined number of cards havebeen fed to the belt; means for actuating a camera to photograph cardson said belt after a predetermined number thereof have been fed to thebelt; means for reinitiating feeding of a predetermined number ofsubsequent cards from the stack after the preceeding predeterminednumber of cards have been photographed; and means to actuate a sensor todetermine the height of cards in the stack of cards to be fed inresponse to a predetermined number of cards having been fed to saidbelt.
 30. An apparatus according to claim 29 wherein said card inverterincludes:a roller; gripping means covering said surface of said rollerto frictionally engage a card; and means providing a second surfacewhich is complimentary to a portion of the outer peripheral surface ofsaid roller and extends over a sufficient portion thereof to invert acard fed between said second surface and said roller surface uponrelease of the card.
 31. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said bar ofsaid stack height sensing means has a lower surface,said meansresponsive to the position of said bar includes a microswitch actuatedby the lower surface of said bar, a spring which biases the bar uponenergization of the solenoid so that the microswitch is actuated, and amotive source operative upon the energization of said microswitch uponthe energization of said solenoid to raise the stack of cards to aposition to displace the bar in an upward direction sufficient toovercome the bias of the spring to deactuate the microswitch.
 32. Theapparatus of claim 31 further including means for straightening thecards in the stack of cards to be fed, and means for actuating saidstraightening means after each card is fed.
 33. The apparatus of claim32 wherein said means for straightening said stack includes:an armpivotally secured to said frame at one end thereof; a spring biasingsaid arm away from said stack; a leaf spring secured at one end thereofto said arm near said pivoted end and resiliently biased toward saidstack; a backstop secured to said frame; a solenoid actuatable to pivotsaid arm toward said stack so that said leaf spring presses against saidstack and to urge the uppermost cards in the stack against the backstop;and said means for actuating said straightening means includes a sensoradapted to sense the rotation of said wheel, one complete rotation ofwhich corresponds to the feeding of one card from the stack.
 34. Theapparatus of claim 33 wherein said sensor for sensing the rotation ofsaid wheel is a photocell and said wheel has a portion of the surfacethereof provided with means for actuating said photocell once duringeach rotation of said wheel.
 35. The apparatus of claim 34 furtherincluding means for separating the uppermost card in the stack from thestack prior to being removed therefrom.
 36. The apparatus of claim 35wherein said means for separating the uppermost cards comprises firstand second nozzles disposed to direct opposing streams of air againstopposite sides of said stack.